Sewing Class
Summary: Coraline has been afraid of needles, buttons, and thread ever since her visit to the Other World three months ago, but what happens when her mother signs her up for sewing class at her new private school without permission? Movie-verse, one-shot.
A/N: My second Coraline fic! This is a little humoristic one-shot that I thought up a few months ago and decided to write down. Read and review please! More Coraline fics coming soon ;)
Disclaimer: I don't own Coraline. Coraline belongs to Henry Selick and Neil Gaiman.
~*~
Coraline couldn't believe it when Mel Jones told her that she had signed her up for sewing class at her new private school – without her permission!
"I thought you might like it, Coraline. I loved sewing when I was a child," Mrs. Jones had said innocently. "Anyway, Wybie and Lucy are doing it, so I thought –"
"MOM!" Coraline shouted, interrupting her mother. "I. Don't. Like. Sewing. You should've asked me first!" She whined.
"Sorry, honey, but I didn't think you'd mind!" Mrs. Jones replied, busily typing away on her laptop.
"Well I did," Coraline scowled, shoved her plate away, and marched up to her room.
Coraline didn't like anything that had to do with needles, thread, or buttons, and sewing consisted on all three of those things. Her mother knew that, didn't she?
It had been three months since her visit to the Other World, but Coraline was still afraid sometimes. The nightmares had been getting worse and worse. The only person – or really, mammal – that she could confide in was Cat. She could've talked to Wybie about it too, but she would've felt like she was going behind Lucy's back. Lucy knew nothing about the Other World.
Coraline sighed. She hated school.
~*~
"I can't believe my mom signed me up for sewing class," Lucy grumbled as the three friends marched to said class. She pushed back a strand of her dark blonde hair and rolled her eyes. "It's so boring!"
"I can't believe my Gramma signed me up!" moaned Wybie. "I'm gonna be the only boy!"
Coraline listened, but kept silent. Saying she was afraid of needles, buttons, and thread would make Lucy think Coraline was nuts.
"I hope we get put together," Lucy added. Then she glanced at Coraline. "Hey, Cora, what's wrong? You're not usually this quiet?"
"Huh?" the blue-haired girl snapped out of her thoughts and blushed. "Oh, sorry."
Wybie's face suddenly lit up with realization and he gave Coraline an apologetic look. She just shrugged as if to say, "It's no big deal."
But it was.
"Okay, then," Lucy said, obviously not convinced. Suddenly the three stopped in front of the room to sewing class, marked 33A. "Well, let's get ready for public humiliation," she sighed.
"Yep," Coraline and Wybie agreed in unison.
And together, the three stepped through the door.
"Good afternoon!" a bright and fake-smiley faced man stepped up in front of the three kids. "Are you signed up for sewing class?"
"Duh," replied Lucy. Coraline hid a smirk. One of the things she loved about was that she wasn't afraid of anything.
The man looked unfazed at Lucy's sarcastic remark. "Great! I'm Mr. Schviaoski, but you can call me Mr. S," the man explained. "Why don't you go over there and pair up with Martha Yackman? She's at that table over there," he pointed to where a tall girl with frizzy brown hair stuffed into a braid was sitting. She was as big as the hulk and looked as though she wanted to punch someone.
The three friends glanced at each other, and then hesitantly approached the girl. She glanced up at them, a scowl on her face. "Who are you?" she demanded.
"Mr. Sch – sh – S sent us over here," Wybie stammered nervously, glancing suspiciously at the needle she was holding in her hand. Coraline edged away from her a little. Normally she could take this girl, but with a needle? She didn't think so.
Martha simply grunted and dropped the needle into one of the four baskets in front of her.
"She's in a good mood," Lucy hissed to Coraline. Coraline smiled as she climbed up on a stool in front of one of the baskets. Maybe her mom was right. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad. After all, she had Lucy and Wybie.
"So, what exactly are we supposed to do?" Lucy asked, addressing Martha and looking at the supplies on the table.
"I don't know," Martha said her voice full of malice. "And I don't care," she turned her back to them.
"Well!" Lucy hissed and made a face at the fat girl's back. Wybie snorted and Coraline hid a smirk.
"Ahem!" The teacher, Mr. S, cleared his throat at the front of the room and everyone glanced up at them. Wybie grabbed a seat next to Coraline and Lucy grabbed a seat between Coraline and the hulk. "Welcome, one and all, to Sewing Class! I hope you'll enjoy yourselves." Coraline rolled her eyes. Yeah, right. "Now, who here has had some experience with sewing?"
No one raised their hand.
"Who has a friend or family member who knows how to sew?" Mr. S asked.
A few people raised their hands, including Coraline and Wybie.
"Great! Trust me, sewing is fun and educational and quite easy to do, really. Now, I'm sure you are all wondering what our project is for today, am I correct?"
No one answered.
"Well, last night, I was sitting and wondering 'what would make a good sewing project?' I knew that not many of you would even know how to sew, so I didn't want to start off with something too hard. But then I said to myself, 'these kids are twelve. They should pick it up easy. Why not start with something a little challenging?' So after doing some thinking, I decided that sewing class shouldn't just be all rules and strictness. You should get some freedom it what you're sewing, but before you do that, you have to learn to do something not exactly easy, but not too challenging either. Thus, I figured the best project to start off with should be," he withdrew something behind his back and held it up. "A doll!"
Coraline turned as white as chalk.
The doll he was holding was almost an exact replica of himself, except it had different clothing and buttons for eyes.
She grasped the table to stop herself from fainting.
"Now, I realize the button eyes might be a little disturbing," he admitted. "But the dollar store was all out of googly eyes, so buttons were the only option I had here. But hey! It'll be just like olden times, right? Back before they had 'googly eyes.' So, who's ready?"
Coraline felt like she was going to be sick.
"Now, the first thing you do is take the doll carcass out of the basket," Mr. S said. Coraline, the back of her neck feeling hot, reached into the bucket and pulled out the doll 'carcass' and bit her lips until she tasted blood to stop from screaming aloud. The carcass was completely blank and a tan color with a slit where the stuffing was supposed to go on the "face."
"Oh God," she whispered.
Wybie glanced at Coraline concernedly. "Are you alright, Jonesy?"
Coraline nodded weakly. "Uh-huh," she answered.
As soon as I get home, thought Coraline with fury. I'm going to make Mom sorry.
When Mr. S finished the instructions on how to make the doll, everyone grumpily complied, but Coraline was in no hurry to make hers. She had to make a doll looking like her with button eyes? That was just too much for her. Far too much.
"Uh…Mr. S?" Coraline raised her hand hesitantly and Mr. S approached the table. "I…I don't think…I don't know…" she stammered.
"Aww…" Martha said in a baby voice from next to her. "Are you afraid of the dolls?" She grinned evilly. In her hand, once again, was a needle, pointed towards Coraline. One swift movement and she would be able to poke her eye out.
Coraline flinched.
"Shut up," Lucy snapped. "Coraline's not afraid of anything, especially not dolls. Right?" She turned to Coraline.
Coraline took a deep breath. She had to do it. She couldn't look like a baby in front of Lucy and Martha. "Of course not." She said, rolling her eyes, trying to sound brave. She turned to Mr. S. "Never mind, Mr. S."
"Okay, kids." Mr. S looked at them in confusion before he walked away.
"Are you sure you're alright?" Wybie repeated.
Coraline glared at him. "I'm fine. Now shut up, why-were-you-born." She snapped.
Wybie looked doubtful, but he didn't reply and began to make his doll.
Coraline stared at the big basket in front of her, and then, taking a deep breath, took out the stuffing. Then she began inserting it into the slit until it was filled head to toe with stuffing. There, she thought. That wasn't so hard.
She glanced up at the board. Step 2 – sew the slit together. Easy enough. She took the needle and the thread and carefully sew it together. Now what she had was just a blank tan colored body. It didn't look quite as scary anymore, she decided.
Step 3 – hair. Coraline chose some blue yarn and began sewing it on the head. When she was finished it didn't look exactly right, but it was better than the ball of fluff that Martha had come up with and was hurriedly trying to yank out.
Coraline glanced at the board again. Step 4 – clothes. Inside the box were assortments of doll clothes. She chose the one that looked least girly (a blue shirt with blue jeans) and put the dolls arms and legs through the clothes. It made the dolls hair look messier, but she was sure she could fix that later.
Now. Step 5 – the mouth. She took the needle and some black thread and sewed the mouth together into a small little smile. She set the needle down and leaned back a little to admire her work.
"That looks good, Cora," Lucy commented, then she glanced down in frustration at her doll. Her doll had only one side of yellow yarn for hair and Lucy was struggling with the other.
"So does yours," Coraline joked.
"Shut up," Lucy said, giving her a grudging look.
Coraline smirked.
She had to admit, the doll did look pretty decent, and definitely not as scary. It also looked nothing like the Other Mother's doll – which had looked more professional, as the Other Mother knew how to sew and Coraline didn't.
In fact, the doll looked slightly like her. But only slightly.
There was just one thing missing – the buttons.
Coraline took a deep breath. This was going to be the hard part. She stuck her hand inside the basket, searching for the buttons.
She couldn't find them.
Coraline peered inside the basket and saw that there were in fact no buttons inside hers. She smiled. I guess I just won't be able to do that part then. She thought satisfactly, and leaned back in her seat.
Mr. S approached the table again, starting from Martha's side. She still had the yellow fuzz for hair. "Nice try, but it needs work," he explained, and made a mark in his clipboard. He moved on to Lucy. She still only had half of hair, but everything else was done. Mr. S frowned. "Why is she half bald?"
"Well I couldn't really –" Lucy began, but he shook his head and cut her off.
"You need to work on that." He said, made a mark in his clipboard, and moved on. Lucy made a face at his neck and Coraline suppressed a laugh.
"Well done, Coraline!" He smiled. "But the eyes are missing. Where are they?"
"I don't have any in my basket," Coraline explained. "So I just…"
"Thought you'd skip that part?" He tsked and shook his head. "I'll get you some from my desk."
Then he left.
"I'll get you some from my desk," Coraline mimicked with disgust. "What a jerk."
"I know," Lucy agreed, her face twisted in a scowl.
"He skipped me," Wybie frowned, but before Lucy or Coraline could reply, he came back with two buttons in his hand.
"Here," he set the buttons on the table. "And an extra spool of thread, too. It looked like you were running out." And he set the spool right under the two buttons.
He moved onto Wybie and began discussing his doll but Coraline didn't hear a word that he was saying. All she could do was stare at the table.
For Mr. S hat set the two buttons (right under the doll) at least an inch apart from each other on the table, and the spool of thread was right under them. And under that was the silver needle that she had placed horizontally before she had begun looking for the buttons.
(A/N: That description is kinda bad, I know. It looked like this:
. . (--buttons)
. (--spool of thread)
- (--needle)
Got it? Good.)
It looked exactly like…
A face.
The same face the Other Mother had made in the "present" she had given her.
And what happened next Coraline doesn't remember because then, she fainted.
~*~
"Soon you'll see things…our way."
"So sharp you won't feel a thing!"
"You know I love you…"
"Coraline! Coraline! CORALINE!!"
Coraline shook her head dizzily. "Wassamatter?" she mumbled, standing up in bed. "Is it over?"
"Is what over?" the voice was strangely familiar, but Coraline couldn't see anything but a blurry mess.
"Sewing…" Coraline mumbled. "Get away…"
"Yes, Coraline, it's over," said a different voice, one that sounded slightly familiar, but not extremely. Where was she?
She brought her hands to her eyes and rubbed them. She blinked a few times, and the light flooded the room. She was sitting on a plastic cot in a room painted a sickly yellow. Sitting in a stool across from her was a woman decked out in a nurse uniform. Lucy and Wybie stood behind her. She realized it had been Lucy who had called her name, and the person that had told her that sewing class was over was the woman who looked like a nurse.
"Where am I?" Coraline asked, blinking again.
Wybie hastened to explain, "You're in –"
"I'm here!" a shout came from the doorway and Coraline turned to see her mother, rain dripping off of her clothes, looking absolutely exasperated. "Where is she?"
"She's right here, Mrs. J," the nurse lady said, pointing to Coraline.
Mrs. Jones let out a sigh of relief and rushed towards her daughter. "Oh, honey, are you alright? I was worried sick! Fainting, really, Coraline, that's not like you! Oh, don't tell me, I bet I know – it was the swine flu, wasn't it? Those darn vaccinations just aren't –"
"MOM!" Coraline screamed at the top of her voice, silencing Mel Jones. "It's alright. I'm perfectly fine. I don't have swine flu." Mrs. Jones let out a sigh of relief. "Now…" she turned to face the four people. "Can someone just tell me what happened?"
"You fainted right in sewing class," Lucy explained. Wybie nodded.
"It was really awesome," Lucy insisted. "One second you were just standing and then –"
"Lucy!" Wybie nudged the blonde in the ribs and she gave him a dirty look.
"Anyway," Lucy continued. "Mr. S helped us carry you to the nurse's office."
Coraline glanced around. She'd never been inside the nurse's office before.
"I fainted?" Coraline asked with surprise, looking back to her friends. Then everything came flooding back. The needle, the spool of thread, the buttons…Coraline shuddered. "Oh," she said softly. Then she added, "What did Martha do?"
Lucy and Wybie exchanged nervous glances. "It's probably best we didn't tell you…" he said. "It wasn't…very…" Wybie stammered, trying to explain.
Coraline scowled. "I'll deal with her later." Lucy smirked and Wybie sighed. Both of them knew what 'dealing' with her meant.
"But Coraline, what did you faint for?" Lucy demanded.
Coraline felt color creeping into her cheeks. "Well…uh…"
"Please, kids, come on. Leave her alone. I'm sure she's feeling dizzy and is probably tired." The nurse said. Wybie and Lucy edged away.
"I'm not dizzy," Coraline insisted, tossing her legs over the cot and standing up. Suddenly she felt the room spinning from beneath her feet. "Whoa," she said, and promptly sat back down.
"She didn't have a concussion, though, so she should be fine," the nurse explained. "However if she feels dizzy tomorrow, give her these pills and that should fix her. And if you have any problems, just call me." The nurse beamed at them.
"Thank you," Mel said to the nurse, and then turned to Coraline. "C'mon, let's go on home."
"I'm leaving early?" Coraline asked, surprised.
"Mm-hmm," Mel said. "Do you need help getting up?"
"Well, I might need a little." She admitted. Lucy and Wybie rushed to her side and they both helped supported her to the car. As her mom put the key in the ignition Coraline said out the window to her friends, "Thanks, guys. And…" she beckoned them closer and whispered in their ears. "Tell Martha that I'll be waiting for her tomorrow."
"Gladly," Lucy whispered back, beaming. Wybie sighed again and mumbled something under his breath.
Mrs. Jones backed out of the parking lot and onto the main road.
"Really, Coraline," Mel said as she turned onto Baker Street. "What did you faint for?" She glanced at her daughter through the rearview mirror and then back on the road.
Coraline shifted in her seat. "Well, it was kinda hot in there," she lied. "And I hadn't been feeling good that morning."
"You should've told me," Mel scolded.
Coraline shrugged.
Mrs. Jones sighed. "I'm just glad you're okay," she said as parked in the driveway to the Pink Palace Apartments.
Coraline climbed out of the car. "Thanks for taking me home, Mom," she said through the window to her mom.
"You're welcome," Mel replied. "And if you need anything, don't hesitate to call me, alright?"
Coraline nodded and was about to turn away when she turned back and asked, "And Mom? I really don't want to do sewing class."
Mel sighed. "I guess I won't make you." She sighed. "Maybe we'll find another class at your school that fits you…better."
"Okay." Coraline smiled. "Thanks." And she watched her mom back down the driveway and speed away down the road.
~*~
"Coraline, guess what your school is doing?"
Coraline looked up from Charlotte's Web. She was sprawled across her bed, the pile of mostly finished homework stacked next to her. Coraline sighed, and said, trying to sound interested, "What?"
Coraline's mother showed her the article in the school newspaper for parents. It read:
'Honors Life Science – for grades 7 through 8
Is your child interested in learning about science? Is your child tired of those ordinary science classes where all you do is simply copy notes? Not anymore! In Honors Life Science (for grades 7 through 8) we do hands on activities like learning about animals by actually bringing them into class! If you think your child might be interested in this extra class, please sign your name and your child's name at the bottom.'
"Doesn't that sound exciting?"
Coraline did think it sounded pretty interesting, but she didn't want to say so in front of her mother, so she said, "I guess."
"Would you be interested in doing it?" Mel asked, setting the article on Coraline's bedside table.
Again, Coraline replied, "I guess."
~*~
"I'm so excited for science class," Wybie said, beaming.
"We've heard," Lucy said, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, give it a rest, Wybie," Coraline added.
"But our regular science class is just so boring," Wybie insisted.
"It is," Coraline had to agree. "Especially with Mr. Buttburn. 'Don't touch the microscopes, they're valuable! Always raise your hand or you'll get detention!'" Coraline mimicked her science teacher in a nasally voice.
Lucy laughed. "Yeah, and who has a name like Buttburn anyway?"
"'It's a quality I was born with!'" Coraline said in the nasally voice, causing Lucy and Wybie to laugh harder.
"Oh, here's the class," Lucy hurried over to room 101B and the other two followed her. As they stepped inside the room, they found it dark except for the SMART Board, which was lit up at the front of the room.
"Find a seat, kids, hurry!" said a man, who Coraline was guessing was the science teacher. "Class is about to begin!"
Coraline, Lucy, and Wybie rushed to an empty table where they through down their stuff and slid into the seats.
The man strode up to the front of the room. "Hello, girls and boys. My name, as some of you may know, is Mr. Samuels."
"Finally, a name we can pronounce," Lucy hissed in her friends' ears. Wybie laughed but Coraline just smiled weakly. It had been two weeks since the incident of her fainting, but she didn't like to think about it.
"Now, why did you all decide to switch to Honors Life Science?"
Some eighth-grader that Coraline didn't recognize raised her hand and answered, "Because the normal science was boring."
All of the other eighth-graders nodded in agreement.
"Okay," Mr. Samuels nodded. "How about you, over there?" He pointed to Wybie's hand.
"I wanted to learn more about science doing labs and stuff," Wybie answered.
"Okay, those are some pretty decent answers. I'm sure you want to know what we'll be doing in class today." Some kids nodded, other kids just mumbled something under their breaths. "Well, today I decided a very interesting experiment would have to take place, to get you excited about Honors Life Science. So…" he hefted a big box onto the table. "We're going to be dissecting…" Coraline froze as he pulled out a small object from the box. "Blue beetles!"
"Oh God," Coraline whispered to herself, and she muttered under her breath, "Here we go again."
FIN
A/N: My second Coraline fic, done! So, did you like it? I kinda thought I made Coraline a bit OOC in the first half of the story. Who can guess where I got the 'Mr. Buttburn' part from? :) Plus, look for Lucy in some of my other Coraline fics. I might bring her into them or possibly just mention her. Oh yeah, and to those who were confused on the last part of the story, Coraline hates bugs because the Other Mother had furniture made out of bugs in the living room.
And to those who have read my Narnia OC story 'The Chronicles of the Luthers': I'm thinking about deleting this story. If you've read it and want it to continue, leave me a review in that story, PM me, or vote in the poll in my profile. Otherwise I'll delete it in one week. Do NOT leave me a review about it here. Thanks!
Review please! :)
~ Cora ~